Top of camera controls (left)

Top of the camera on the left hand side is situated the main power
/ drive mode dial, beside and below this are settings buttons which
are used in combination with the command dial (surrounding the shutter
release button). Note that we will also describe the RES and ISO
buttons here even though they are actual on the 'rear' of the camera.

Drive Mode Dial

Icon

Description

Power Off
Camera is powered off, any images still in the buffer will continue
to be written out to the Compact Flash card. The top status LCD will
show 'CF' to indicate that the Compact Flash card is still active.

Single Drive
Camera shoots in single drive mode, one depression of the shutter
release results in one frame taken (assuming AF locks).

Continuous Drive
Camera shoots in continuous drive mode, camera shoots continuously
while shutter release is held down as long as their is buffer space.
This equates to approximately 1.9 fps at full resolution for up to
6 frames. If the buffer fills the camera will take the next shot when
buffer space is available.

Ten second self-timer
After depressing the shutter release the camera will beep for ten
seconds before taking the exposure. Countdown is displayed on the
top status panel.

Two second self-timer
After depressing the shutter release the camera will beep for two
seconds before taking the exposure. Countdown is displayed on the
top status panel.

Mirror lockup exposure
After depressing the shutter release the mirror is raised, release
and then a gentle half-press of the shutter release will take the
final exposure. This allows you to reduce vibration transmitted through
the camera body by the mirror when taking long exposures or macros.
It would have been nice to have a combined Mirror lockup and two second
self-timer option.

Auto Bracketing
After turning to this mode you can set the auto bracketing step to
0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0 EV. Turn back to a normal drive mode
to take the automatically bracketed exposures. Use continuous drive
mode and it will stop after the three bracketed exposures have been
taken.

Top of camera controls (right)

Top of the camera on the right hand side is situated the shutter
release button which is surrounded by the command dial. Below this
is the status LCD panel, to its left is the exposure mode dial which
has shutter speed wheel on top, as indicated on the top of the wheel
turn it clockwise for faster shutter speeds and anticlockwise for
slower (in S or M modes). Note that we will also describe the AEL
and Exposure Compensation buttons here even though they are actual
on the 'rear' of the camera.

Exposure Mode Dial

There are four exposure modes available on the SD9 which
can be quickly selected by turning the exposure mode dial.

Icon

Mode

P

Program Auto Exposure (Shiftable)
Automatic Exposure mode, half-press the shutter release and the
camera will select an exposure which matches the metered light value,
sensitivity and exposure compensation settings. The Program AE on
the SD9 is shiftable which means you can can select one of a variety
of equivalent exposures by rolling the command dial. Minimum shutter
speed is 15 seconds at ISO 100, 1 second at ISO 200 or 400.
Example:
 1/125 F3.5 (roll dial right one click)
 1/90 F4.0 (automatic)
 1/60 F4.5 (roll dial left one click)

A

Aperture Priority Auto Exposure
In this mode you select the aperture and the camera will attempt
to select the best shutter speed for a proper exposure (based on
the current metering mode). Aperture is displayed on the viewfinder
status bar and on the top LCD, roll the command dial to select different
apertures. A half-press of the shutter release causes the cameras
exposure system to calculate the shutter speed, if it's outside
of the cameras exposure range the shutter speed will blink. Available
apertures will differ depending on the lens used. Apertures are
available in half stop steps, exact range will depend on the lens
used.

S

Shutter Priority Auto Exposure
In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will attempt
to select the best aperture for a proper exposure (based on the
current metering mode). Shutter speed is displayed on the viewfinder
status bar and on the top LCD, roll the shutter speed dial to select
different shutter speeds. A half-press of the shutter release causes
the cameras exposure system to calculate the aperture, if it's outside
of the cameras exposure range (for instance trying to take a shot
at 1/500s in darkness) the aperture will blink. Shutter speeds are
available in half stop steps. Minimum shutter speed is 15 seconds
at ISO 100, 1 second at ISO 200 or 400.
15, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.5, 1, 0.7, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10,
1/15, 1/20, 1/30, 1/45, 1/60, 1/90, 1/125, 1/180, 1/250, 1/350,
1/500, 1/750, 1/1000, 1/1500, 1/2000, 1/3000, 1/4000, 1/6000 sec

M

Full Manual Exposure
In this mode you select the aperture and the shutter speed from any
combination of the above (plus Bulb for shutter speed, apertures limited
by the lens used). Half-press the shutter release and the meter on
the viewfinder status bar and top LCD will reflect the exposure level
compared to the calculated ideal exposure, if it's outside of +/-
3 EV the indicator bar will blink.

Buttons

Button

Description

Auto-Exposure Lock
Press and hold this button then half-press the shutter release to
lock the exposure. The exposure can be locked for a single or multiple
shots.

Exposure Compensation
Hold button and rotate the command dial to set an exposure compensation
level. Compensation is available in half stop (0.5 EV) steps from
-3 EV to +3 EV.

It's a pity that shutter speed / aperture and exposure compensation can
only be selected in half stop steps, most other digital SLR's provide
third stop steps which can provide that little bit of additional control.